ABOUT OUR RECTOR
The Rev. Vincent Pizzuto, Ph.D.
On behalf of our entire congregation, Fr. Vincent extends a warm welcome to the community of Inverness and beyond. Please feel free to explore our website to learn more about the new initiatives we are taking in our mission and ministry.
All are welcome!
Father Vincent Pizzuto, PhD began his appointment as Vicar of St. Columba's on January 1, 2017. Since his arrival he has brought to our community a vibrant spirit of openness and hospitality along with considerable academic breadth and theological depth. Our congregational expansion of ministry and spiritual vibrancy opened the way for St. Columba's to be recognized as a parish into the Diocese of California at our diocesan convention on October 24, 2026. Now having been called as our rector by the vestry, he continues to serve his congregation with the same spirit of vibrancy, intellectual curiosity, and fidelity to Christ in all things.
Fr. Vincent holds a Masters of Education in Religious Education from Boston College (1995), as well as a Masters (STL) and Doctorate (STD) in New Testament exegesis from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium (2003). He is a Professor at the (Jesuit) University of San Francisco where he teaches primarily in the areas of New Testament and Christian Mysticism in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. He has published and presented internationally in the areas of New Testament exegesis, contemplative practice, ecological discipleship, inter-faith dialogue, Christian mysticism, and the phenomena of Near-death Experiences. His second book Contemplating Christ: The Gospels and the Interior Life (Liturgical Press, 2018) was translated into Spanish, Contemplar a Cristo: Los Evangelios y la vida interior, (Desclée De Brouwer) in 2022 and will be available in Chinese 凝視基督：福音與內在生命 (Kuangchi Cultural Group) late in 2026. In its pages, Fr. Pizzuto seeks to bring his readers into a lived realization of their “deification”– that the Incarnation has made mystics of us all. His current research explores the metaphysical implications of near-death experiences from a cross-disciplinary perspective.
During his tenure of service at St. Columba's, Fr. Vincent has drawn from his rich pastoral and theological background to nurture a growing and vibrant contemplative Christian community. Welcoming all who come into our doors, he continues to tend to the spiritual needs of our congregation while advancing our Retreat House as an internationally recognized Center for Contemplative Christianity.